Has anyone tried 5 X 120.7 wheels?

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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Monotalonawd
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Post by Monotalonawd »

I had to change the left rear tire on my 535i and while I was down there I tried to fit a wheel from my old Firebird. I knew the bolt pattern was slightly different but it bolted right down! It even sits flush with the fender and the style beautifully fits the body style of the E28 (it's a wide 14" with lots of spokes, retro style) Now, I didn't try to roll with it 'cause it didn't have a tire mounted on it but has anyone tried a Camaro/Firebird wheel on their ride?

I know, I know... why do I want to disgrace my BMW with some General Motors parts?! :p But seriously, when you look at the wheel, you would be hard pressed to differenciate it from a BMW's or F-body's.

What I really want to know is would it be safe? I would like to hear from someone who actually did it. The car came with 15" wheels but they're the infamous metric ones. I don't want to pay $300 cnd for a "normal" 15" tire when I can have a low profile 255/40/17" for $135! :D
Kyle in NO
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Post by Kyle in NO »

First the metric ones aren't 15", they are 390 mm. Big sizing difference there...

Second, if the bolt pattern is at all different, I wouldn't bolt it up. As sensitive as these E28 suspensions are, it will NEVER roll correctly, ESPECIALLY if the center hub isn't an almost press fit to the wheel. It will shake so badly you'll think the car is falling apart. Buy some real BMW or aftermarket rims, they can be had for a cheap price if you look hard enough.

That aside from the obvious safety factor of having a lug bolt not sitting flush on its seat and also wallowing out the bolt holes...I know they look good, but its simply not worth it.

Just my opinion...

Kyle in NO
djazz
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Post by djazz »

I agree with Kyle. you would probably feel it as soon as you pulled out of the drive.

Ask around and I bet you'll find plenty of people with 15's to sell after upgrading to 16s or even 17s. Basketweaves and bottlecaps go dirt cheap or shop ebay for a deal on some purdier wheels. And don't forget jim@dashop. He probably has something you will like at a good price.

Good Luck,

dj

Good Luck
fastpat
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Post by fastpat »

The others have mentioned several things that are wrong about installing a 4 3/4 inch bolt circle wheel on a 120m m bolt circle wheel. I'll see if I can add to their info. :)

First, even though the wheel bolted up, the bolts are at a slight angle into their respective threaded hole, which puts a side loading on the threads. Structurally, that's a very bad thing, since the threads themselves are a stress riser when an angle like that is present, eventually the bolt will fracture somewhere along the thread, most likely where it enters the hub.

Second, it's not likely that the GM wheels are hubcentric on the BMW hub, and are unlikely to be made hubcentric with adaptor rings. The hubcentric fit takes the major part of the vertical load from the wheel and transfers that load to the suspension, the bolts take the thrust (actually tension) loads and only a small part, if any, of the vertical loads. Without hubcentricity, the bolts are taking the full vertical AND their intended tension loading.

And last, there's no point in using a GM wheel on your BMW. There is a huge variety of wheels in 15, 16, 17, and even 18 inch diameters that already fit correctly, or can be fitted with 1.5mm hubcentric adapter rings. It's not a case of sullying your BMW with GM wheels, it simply makes no sense in any meaningful way. :p
Monotalonawd
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Post by Monotalonawd »

Well, after reading those persuasive replies, I think I will forget about using those Firebird wheels! :D It wouldn't be worth it to lose a wheel in a turn to save some pennies! :p So I'll begin to search for some more appropriate wheels. Thanks to all!
tacm
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Post by tacm »

im looking for wheels too i saw a few nice ones at tirerack.com.......steve :)
C.R. Krieger
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Post by C.R. Krieger »

OK, somebody's gotta disagree! :@

If you're not racking up any serious g forces or running at high speeds, you are not going to be snapping off lug bolts left & right. As for the vibration problems you might encounter, you have a very sensitive calibrator just above the back pockets of your Levis. If it shakes uncomfortably, don't drive it. OTOH, as we all oughta' know, you can get that from OEM wheels, too. I can't be the only one who's rotated wheels on their bolt patterns to get rid of a shimmy. If you can get them mounted where they run smoothly, drive 'em!

ISTR an old Roundel article where the builders of a cheap IT racecar (a Bavaria or an E12) were quite happy to bolt up a set of Chevy wheels! Yeah; go ahead and be horrified; it does work. ~0

For a coupla' spins around the block or down to the drive-in, why not? :D
fastpat
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Post by fastpat »

Why not?
That would be because it's a bad, dangerous idea, and wholly unnecessary to run wheels that not only don't fit the hub, but don't even fit the lugs. :@

We used to have a pilot at an airport I worked at continually tell us about his 10,000 hours of flight time and that was why he wanted to do all manner of "bad ideas" when flying around the airport, seeing as how he'd never been hurt.

We used to counter that with, "yeah, 10,000 hours of bad habits don't mean you aren't going to be a smokintg hole in the ground in the next five minutes, either." :D
C.R. Krieger
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Post by C.R. Krieger »

Why not?
fastpat� wrote:That would be because it's a bad, dangerous idea, and wholly unnecessary to run wheels that not only don't fit the hub, but don't even fit the lugs. :@
OK; count 'em. The lug bolts, that is. Have you ever broken one? Have you ever broken more than one? Yeah; it's mildly annoying and (I'll concede) even marginally dangerous to have a wheel fall off, but you have to be a complete moron not to feel the symptoms well before you have an actual problem. I once forgot to tighten any of the lugs on my old 2002 after some extended driveway work (gearbox). I drove off and got all of half a block before I realized something was very wrong. I've even seen the 8x10 glossy of a 2002 on an autocross course with one of its front wheels preceding its progress. ~0 Want to guess which well-known American BMW tuner left the lugs loose? (I'll owe a beer to the first one with the correct answer.) But the car was no worse for the incident.

We used to have a pilot at an airport I worked at continually tell us about his 10,000 hours of flight time and that was why he wanted to do all manner of "bad ideas" when flying around the airport, seeing as how he'd never been hurt.

We used to counter that with, "yeah, 10,000 hours of bad habits don't mean you aren't going to be a smokintg hole in the ground in the next five minutes, either." :D
And my own equivalent was used by Dave Farnsworth about a dozen years back in ROUNDEL, if you want to look it up.

The bottom line though, is that the risks are fairly small, especially when you consider how many bolts you'd have to break off before a wheel comes adrift. Even then, unless you're at some ridiculous speed (and you'll notice I included such caveats in my message), you won't have any huge problem in stopping the car safely. I think most of you are blowing the German expertise in developing wheel fastening systems all out of proportion. ;)
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